| Popis: |
Archaeologists traditionally think of the past through things; through a base unit of analysis that is the artefact. In this thesis I argue that the basic unit in the study of the history of archaeology can also be archaeologists themselves, functioning as artefacts of the discipline. Further, that many of the analytical tools applied to the study of artefacts apply well metaphorically, to the study of the discipline as a whole. I argue for the need to evaluate the individual archaeological practitioner with reference to a collective assemblage - their community of practice, and also to observe and critique the interplay between individual practitioners. In this thesis I examine three liminal individuals in the history of Australian archaeology; Dermot Casey, Elsie Bramell and Alexander Gallus and I highlight the nature of their relationship to the discipline as a whole. The level of in-depth study I have applied to each of my case studies is necessary to tease out sufficient contextual understanding of individual circumstances. My findings from these three case studies is sufficient to robustly challenge the existing paradigm of the development and growth of Australian archaeology. To date, histories of Australian archaeology have portrayed the discipline as shifting abruptly from an amateur to professional state with the excavation of Fromms Landing by John Mulvaney in 1956. This chronology is grounded on Mulvaney’s own history of the discipline, and several subsequent works that largely accept Mulvaney’s proposition. My work indicates that this amateur-professional divide is untenable, as persons fitting either category of amateur or professional were active in Australian archaeology throughout the 20th century. I contend that the primary factors that have shaped Australian archaeology through the 20th century were biographical and social forces, enmeshed in and reifying archaeological disciplinary culture. While writing these biographies, I have been cognisant of the need for reflexivity. I have reflected on my own biographical influences in approaching my topic as much as I do in evaluating the effects of biographical factors on the archaeological careers of the three case study individuals. This is an intimately personal thesis – from my lived experience, to my analysis of other lives, for evaluation by you. |
